A company that started out making bikes for professional cyclists decided to expand into a wider market. The result is customisable models for people who care about design as much as they enjoy a two-wheeled jaunt through…

In a globalised market flooded with faux-artisan branding, real craftsmen are endangered. But in Kyoto, where tradition rules, a new initiative is refreshing generations-old techniques to bring Japanese craft to a worldwide…

A decade ago it was rare to see a pair of Tokyo teenage boys out shopping in kimonos. But attitudes to national identity are starting to change. Genbei Yamaguchi’s new collection for United Arrows is targeting this shift…

It’s often the little things that leave a lasting impression when visiting a new city. From flickering neon lights in Portugal to beautifully painted manholes in Japan, Monocle picks out 10 unique and memorable city details…

Visit Munich or Melbourne, Seattle or Singapore and you’ll come across ‘almost perfect’ places to live. However, at Monocle we’ve created the ideal mansion block, with nothing omitted in its design. Now, who’s going to…

Monocle offers you an insight into the most efficient and well turned-out logistics companies. If you’ve ever wondered how cash is transported to banks around South Africa or how delicate contemporary art is packed up in…

If you happened to have been on any of the crowded bullet trains that left Tokyo for Kyoto, Osaka and Hakata last night, you might have thought that Japan was in the midst of a population boom.

If you happened to have been on any of the crowded bullet trains that left Tokyo for Kyoto, Osaka and Hakata last night, you might have thought that Japan was in the midst of a population boom. Instead of the usual rows of…

We meet chef and author Michael Gibney whose book ‘Sous Chef’ reveals what really happens in restaurant kitchens. We also visit one of the oldest tofu makers in Kyoto, and find out what is new and noteworthy in Armenian…

"Save the world" is just one of the items on the "to do" list of Denmark's prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, this year. And he might just do it. This year he will host COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Confer…

Having good manners shouldn’t be difficult but a country as well behaved as Japan has turned being nice into an art.

Suddenly the sky darkened, the thunder rumbled and the rain fell. From blue sky to black slate in five minutes. I jumped into a doorway and watched as people hurried by. Well, most did. One man seeing me imprisoned behind…

For a country whose workers prefer not to inconvenience their colleagues by taking a vacation, Japan does remarkably well when it comes to public holidays: 15 a year.

For a country whose workers prefer not to inconvenience their colleagues by taking a vacation, Japan does remarkably well when it comes to public holidays: 15 a year. Compare that with a paltry seven in the UK and you might…